Self-erecting spiral tube device



June 10, 1969 w. J. BIEBER I 3,448,939

SELF-ERECTING SPIRAL TUBE DEVICE 'riled Dec. 4, 1967 Sheet of 2 26 l 25 3o I 3o i i l l FIG. 2

. FIG. 4.

INVENTOR WlLLlAM J. BIEBER ATTOR NEYS June 10', 1969 W. ,B.E ER v 3,44 ,939

SELF-ERECTING SPIRAL TUBE DEVICE Filed Dec. 4, 1967 Sheet 2 or v .1 Q (E) N v w T 52 52. I fl I I \-vj so f I 5o i FIG 5 FIG 6 INVEN TOR WILLIAM J. BIEBER ATTORNEYS United StateS. Patent 3,448,939 SELF-ERECTING SPIRAL TUBE DEVICE William J. Bieb'er, Doylestown, Pa., assignor to Ametek, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation, of Delaware Filed Dec. 4, 1967, Sex; No.687,894 Int. Cl. B65h 75/00; E04h 12/18; B60g 11/14 US. Cl. 242-54 7 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUR A self-erecting helical tube has guide bearings to provide for reverse winding on a drum having :an axis substantially parallel to the axis of the tube.

Background by the invention Self-erecting helical tubes employing non-cumulative force ribbon springs made by the method of US. Patent 3,007,239 are known. The heretofore known devices em ploy a winding drum having an axis lying at 90 to the helix angle of the tube. In this configuration, the axis of the drum necessarily iies at a substantial angle with respect to the axis of the tube. This markedly reduces the compactness of the structure and in many cases is an awkward arrangement mechanically. The primary purpose of this invention is to provide a self-erecting helical tube device wherein the axis of the tube and the axis of the winding drum are substantially parallel.

Summary of the invention A tube is formed from a helical ribbon spring having adjacent turns set to tightly coil in overlapping and telescoping engagement. The spring is reversely wound on a drum whose axis is substantially parallel to the axis of the tube. Upper and lower guide bearings are provided to guide the spring between the tube and the drum.

Description of the drawings FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic view of a heretofore known self erecting helical tube device,

FIGURE 2 is a front elevation of a device in accordance with the invention in a partially unwound condition,

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation of the device of FIG? URE -2,

lFIGURE 4 is a top plan view of the device of FIG- URE 2,

[FIGURE 5 is a left end view of the device of FIG- URE 2 showing only the tube, the-'drum and the guide bearings,

[FIGURE 6 is a right hand view of the parts of FIG- URE 5; and

FIGURE 7 is an elevation of the device of FIGURE 2, partially broken away, to show the stop mechanism employed.

Description of preferred embodiment By way of introduction, a prior art self-erecting helical tube device A (shown in FIGURE 1) has a base B a drum C having an axis at a substantial angle to the axis of tube D formed with helical ribbon spring E.

A self-erecting helical tube device 2 in accordance with the invention has a conventionally formed tube 4 of a helical ribbon spring '6. The adjacent turns of spring 6 are set so as to tightly coil in overlapping and telescoping engagement. Spring '6 is similar to the noncumulat-ive force ribben spring made by the method of US. Patent 3,007,239 issued Nov. 7, 1961, with the exception that in lieu of naturally coiling into a cylindrical coil the spring of the invention is set with a helix angle 3,448,939 Patented June 10, 1969 so as to naturally coil into a helical coil which is the extended tube. For simplicity of manufacture, each increment of the spring may be set to the same radius although varying radii, such as increasing or decreasing radii, may be used so long as the adjacent coil-s are in tight contact.

Tube 4 passe-s upwardly through a guide ring 8 which is mounted on .a standard 10 secured to a frame 12. A torsion spring guide member 14 secured to frame -12 as indicated at 16 has a roller member 18 which bears against tube 4 to urge it towards the surface of ring 8. Tube 4 passes through an opening 20 in frame 12.

-A windup drum 22 is fixedly secured to a shaft 24 mounted for rotation in frame 12. A rotating handle 26 has a knob 28 and a collar 30 which is fixedly secured to shaft 24 by a set screw indicated at 32. The opposite end of shaft 24 carries a collar 34 secured thereto by a set screw indicated at 36. A headed screw 40 is threaded to handle 26 and can be advanced inwardly to prevent handle 26 from rotating past frame 12 and thus stop the erection of tube 4 until desired.

Spring 6 is :backwound onto drum 22, that is to say it is wound onto drum 22 so as to bend the spring in the direction opposite to the direction in which the spring naturally tends to bend. A lower guide bearing roller '50 and an upper guide bearing roller 52 are secured to frame 12 adjacent drum 22. Guide bearing roller 50 has an axis substantially parallel to the axis of drum 22. Guide bearing roller 52 has an axis which advantageously lies substantially perpendicular to a plane passing through the upper edge of the spring '6 in the vicinity of the midpoint of the springs transition from the drum to the tube. As a practical matter, roller 50 and roller 52 are positioned to provide a smooth transition of spring 6 when the axis of the drum and the axis of the tube are substantially parallel and to provide a minimum energy change during the transition between the drum and the tube. Guide bearing rollers 50 and 52 cause spring 6 to form tube 4 with an axis substantially parallel to the axis of the drum 22 as spring 6 unwinds from drum 2-2.

As best seen in FIGURE 7, the inner end 60 of spring 6 is secured to drum 22 by a screw 62. Drum 22 is provided with a recess 64 having a wall 66. A torsion spring '68 secured 'to frame 12 has an arm 70 which drops into recess 64 when it is uncovered by spring -6 and engages wall 66 to prevent the further rotation of drum 22 in a well-known manner.

Operation While it is believed that the operation is obvious from the above description, it will be described briefly here. Rotation of I handle 26 employing knob 28 causes spring 6 to be unwound from tube 4, pass around guide bearing rollers 50 and 52 and thence be backwound onto drum 22. This causes the tube 4 to be retracted. Desirably, tube 4 is retracted to a position so that the upper end thereof (not shown) is just above ring 8. Screw 40 is then advanced to a position where it will engage frame 12 and prevent the rotation of handle 26 and hence prevent the erection of tube 4. When it is desired to erect tube 4, screw 40 is backed off so as to be free of frame 12 and permitting spring 6 to unwind from drum 22, pass about guide bearing rollers 50 and 52 and erect tube 4 to the fully erected position with the axis of tube 4 parallel to the axis of drum 22. Handle 26 may be hand-held to control the rate of erection. In more sophisticated applications, brakes, motors, governors and the like may be used to prevent excessive rate of erection of the tube. The erection is limited by the engagement of arm 70 with wall '66 in drum 22.

It will be understood the above described embodiment is illustrative and is not intended to be limiting.

I claim:

1. A self-erecting tube device comprising:

a helical ribbon spring having adjacent turns set to tightly coil in overlapping and telescoping engagement to form a tube,

means including a windup drum having its axis disposed substantially parallel to the axis of the tube to reverse Wind at least a portion of the spring into a substantially cylindrical coil to retract the tube land ready it for self-erection; and

guide bearing means to guide the spring between the tube and the drum to position the axis of the tube substantially parallel to the axis of the cylindrical coil.

2. A tube device in accordance with claim 1 having means to releasably retain the spring in the Wound condition.

10 FRANK L. AB'BOTT,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1887 Read 248--188.8 1:1/1961 Lermont 29-173 8/1964 Weir et a1. 52-108 8/1964 [Klein 52-108 X 1/1967 Gordon 267-62 4/1968 Fry et a1. 52-108 Primary Examiner.

P. C. PAW, JR., Assistant Examiner. 

